


It's (Always) About Friendship

by magician



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Backstory, Community: sentinel_thurs, Friendship, Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-08 10:13:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magician/pseuds/magician
Summary: Blair and his friends.





	It's (Always) About Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> I was under a deadline and couldn't think of a better title, so it will have to do. Written for Sentinel Thursday for the prompt: track.

Blair looked at the man leaning back in his office chair, purposely ignoring him.  He flipped a paper on his clipboard, still not looking up, then said, "Sandburg… Sandburg. Where do you come from?"  
  
_Probably thinks I'm a foreigner_. "We moved around a lot. We just relocated here from Long Beach, California."  
  
"Moved around a lot," the man repeated and finally looked at Blair. "Your dad in the military?"  
  
Blair shrugged. "My mom's job."  
  
" _Sir_."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"You refer to your coach as 'sir', Sandburg. Just like any other teacher here."  
  
Blair stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Yes, sir."  
  
Satisfied, Coach Madison nodded.  "Okay, besides regular phys ed classes, you need to pick a sport. Got a favorite?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Blair said, with his first glimmer of enthusiasm. "Basketball."  
  
Madison snorted. He looked Blair up and down, obviously noting his height, or lack thereof. "You're joking."  
  
"No, sir.  I play a lot of pickup games. I've got a great jump shot."  
  
"Well, we've already got this year's team picked, alternates, too.  There's no room for you there." Madison looked at the student roster.  "What about track and field?  Lots of different sports to choose from.  If you're such a good jumper," he said, with obvious doubt in his voice, "you could try the high jump.  Or hurdles."  He looked up when there was no answer forthcoming. "You can try other sports if that doesn't work out.  For now, come to the track at Sixth period and meet the rest of the team. Be dressed to go."  
  
Blair nodded and left, not quite trusting his voice. He'd dealt with bullies all his life and, as such, Madison wasn't as bad as most. But the unfairness of dismissing him without consideration rankled.  He was determined to find something he'd be good at that would shut that smug loudmouth.  
  
*****  
  
"Sandburg! Get your ass on the track and start doing laps!" Blair winced.  Only the second time he'd encountered the coach and he already hated the guy's voice.  He finished tying his shoes and started jogging to warm up.  Dozens of boys were passing him by and he unconsciously started increasing his speed.  He'd never done anything official, but he'd run from trouble plenty of times in his life, so he knew he could turn on the speed.  He just didn't like to.  
  
"Don't let him get to you. Madison's an asshole.  It's just that he's an asshole with power," a blond, lanky teen who'd already lapped Blair twice said.  "You're new here, huh?  I'm Robby McClure."  
  
"Hi, Blair Sandburg," Blair replied, a little breathlessly.  
  
Robby slowed down a little to keep pace. "Did you do something to piss him off? He seems a little more annoyed than usual."  
  
Blair shrugged.  "Just asked to be on the basketball team. Oh, and I forgot to call him 'sir'."  
  
Robbie laughed.  "That'll do it.  So, you got put in track and field because you're a good runner?" he asked wryly.  
  
"More like he didn't want to bother going through the hassle of finding a team for me to play on. He didn't even ask after he shot down my request for basketball.  I think he resents that I'm not a jock."  
  
"Well, if you don't mind playing unofficially, there are pickup games after school all the time. Basketball, baseball, even ice hockey at the YMCA rink."  
  
Blair grinned.  "Hey, I'm the most unofficial guy you'll ever meet!  I'll check it out. Thanks."  
  
"In the meantime…"  
  
"Yeah, in the meantime, I'm stuck here running my butt off," Blair said glumly.  "Hey," he said suddenly, "you look like you've been doing this a while. Did you actually volunteer for track and field?"  
  
"Yeah, I've been a pretty good runner most of my life.  I've added in some of the throwing and jumping sports."  
  
"Wow, are you a decathlete?"  
  
"You know about the decathlon?"  
  
"Well, I'm from California, not Mars.  They're the elite!  I was sorry our athletes didn't get to go to Moscow, but Daley Thompson was phenomenal."  
  
"I'm hoping to try out for next year's Olympics." Robby said shyly.  
  
"Really? Wow.  Are you going to be old enough? Do you have a sponsor? Would you have to relocate to Los Angeles?"  
  
Robby laughed at the barrage of questions. "Yeah, I'll be old enough and I've got a scholarship to U of Oregon; they'll help get me ready.  I doubt I'll make it, but wouldn't it be awesome to be called an Olympian?" Robby asked dreamily.  
  
"U of Oregon? Isn't that where Steve Prefontaine was from?"  
  
"Uh-huh.  That's why I'm so excited to go there.  They've got a great program." He chuckled a little.  "My mom says we're distantly related to the Prefontaines, but I don't think so."  
  
Blair looked at Robby. "You look kind of like him, but taller. He was a shrimp, like me." Robby laughed again and punched Blair lightly on the arm.  "But the Olympics are next year. You won't start at U of O until September."  
  
"Nah, I've tested out of my classes and have already started a couple of pre-reqs. I transfer there in January with the new semester."  
  
"Oh, man, lucky you.  I've only been here a week and I'm ready to get out."  
  
"Go see Mrs. Foster in Guidance.  She helped me and she's cool." Robby looked over at Madison, who was talking to one of the teachers.  "Hey, why don't I show you some of the other sports. You might like them better."  
  
Over the next few days, Blair learned all the track and field sports. He tried his hand at the long jump (not bad) and high jump (pretty bad), hurdles (he nursed the bruises for days) and pole vault (one look at the height of the bar made him walk away).  He just missed breaking his foot when he dropped the shot put ball, but really enjoyed the discus and javelin.  He wasn't quite fast enough off the mark to be a good sprinter, although he was far from the worst. As the weeks went by, he found that he had the stamina for cross-country, but not the stomach. While it was fun to run (and talk) with Robby, Blair knew he was too much a social animal to like the loneliness of long distance running. It weighed on his mind that his running partner would soon be leaving.  
  
Still, he couldn't begrudge Robby. He made dealing with Coach Madison a lot easier, often running interference. He gave Blair tips and great feedback; Blair was improving enough that Madison had found someone else to pick on.  Robby also introduced Blair to a group of young men from the neighborhood who regularly met to play basketball.  
  
Robby's suggestion about Mrs. Foster had panned out, too.  Blair met with her after taking a couple of weeks to amass all the transcripts from his previous schools (including the Fair Weather Commune and Co-op, where they'd spent nine months when he was eight). She'd been impressed with his transcripts, but more so after talking with him about his aspirations.  She was able to transfer him into the school's current AP classes and arranged for him to take AP exams on other subjects the following spring. If he passed, he'd be able to skip his college freshman year. Since Rainier was nearby and had a great Anthropology program, he applied there for early admission.  Blair started counting the days until he could get out of high school, where he was so socially ill-suited.  
  
Blair was running the track on a drizzly December morning, not because he wanted to, but because Robby asked him.  As they jogged together easily, Robby said, "You know, this is my last week."  
  
Blair stopped dead and stared.  He'd been so absorbed with his new life that he hadn't realized that a big part of it was going to change. Robby, who'd become a friend and helped him make friends with others, who'd spent many hours with Blair in school and out and, in all respects, made life tolerable, was leaving.  
  
"You knew I was going," Robby said defensively, with a rare flash of annoyance.  
  
"No, no, of course I knew.  It just… kind of snuck up on me." Blair stared out at the school building. Between the rain and Robby's announcement, it suddenly looked even bleaker than usual.  "Listen, why don't we cut the rest of the day and go grab something to eat?"  
  
Robby grinned.  "Well, it's not like they can kick me out or anything.  Let's go to Flo's. They've got the best--"  
  
"Fries.  Yeah, I know." Blair picked up a sodden towel from the bleachers and wiped his face. "Let's go."  
  
*****  
  
Blair held the Cree fishing spear high above his head, making soft stalking noises, designed to capture a sentinel's attention but not scare away the fish.  
  
"I wish I had a camera, Chief; you're quite a sight.  All you need is a loincloth to complete the picture."  
  
"Ha, ha.  You'll eat your words after I get the first trout."  
  
Jim laughed and reeled in his line, setting up for another cast.  
  
Blair looked at his friend, relieved that he'd survived the ordeal with Colonel Oliver.  As he held the spear higher, he thoughts drifted back to another good friend, the one who'd taught him how to throw a javelin half a lifetime ago.  
  
*****  
  
Robby had invited him to drive down with his dad to Eugene.  They spent an enjoyable day walking around campus and getting Robby settled in the dorms. They hugged goodbye and promised to stay in touch.  As Blair and Robby's dad drove back, they settled into a comfortable silence.  
  
"Blair, I want you to know how glad I am that you became friends with Robby.  He's never known what having a brother was like. Until you. He's popular because he plays sports, but he's been kind of lonely.  Track is different from team sports like football; less camaraderie, you know?  
  
Blair nodded.  "Yes, sir, I know. I'm going to miss him. He's been a good friend to me, too."  
  
"Well, you know you're welcome at our place any time.  And Robby will be back for spring break. That's just a couple of months away."  
  
Blair nodded again, suddenly realizing how lonely it was going to be on Monday when he went back to class.    
  
*****  
  
Blair threw the spear, deliberately missing a large fish, and cursed dramatically.  Jim laughed, and Blair laughed with him, enjoying the beauty of the day.  "I'll get him next time," he said.  
  
"Sure, Chief, sure." Jim looked up at the sky.  "Better start gathering firewood to cook all the fish I'm going to catch.  It'd be a better use of your time," he said with a smirk.  
  
" _It'd be a better use of your time_ ," Blair mimicked back, but got down off the rocks anyway.  He really wasn't in the mood to spear a fish; he'd just wanted to spend the day with Jim, the only really good friend he'd made in more than a decade.  And he wanted to read Robby's letter, which had arrived yesterday and was stuffed in his backpack.  
  
*****  
  
Robby had done well enough to win collegiate medals, but he never got to the Olympics.  He was just a little too young; his muscles were not as developed as other decathletes, who were usually in their twenties when they hit their stride.  By the time the next Olympics trials were held, he'd graduated with an engineering degree and married his college sweetheart.  They'd moved to Richmond, Virginia, to be closer to her family.  After their second child, Robby's parents relocated to be closer to their grandchildren.  They and Blair had all cried a little as they hugged farewell.  
  
Blair had kept in touch faithfully; the only friend with which he had.  He told Robby of his dreams and his travels; his university triumphs and his dating disasters.  He tacked on an extra few days after every expedition for a detour to Richmond.  He played with the kids and regaled Robby, his wife Eileen and their folks with his adventures.  
  
*****  
  
Robby had written him a long, newsy letter catching him up on the last six months of his life.  Eileen was pregnant again and they were overjoyed with the news.  Robby started a new job, one that paid him well and allowed him to get his Master's degree through the University of Phoenix online program.  His parents were doing well, and asked about him often.  Not so subtly, Robby said the kids were asking when "Uncle Blair" was going to visit.  
  
Blair thought about his current situation.  After turning down the Borneo trip, he realized his wanderlust had been sated; he had gone native--with his thesis subject, of all things--and couldn't currently imagine leaving Jim or their life together for another expedition.     
  
By the time he had the fire banked well enough to cook over, Jim arrived with three big trout, cleaned and ready for the frying pan.  As he accepted the fish and gathered his cooking tools, he asked, "Hey, Jim, have you ever been to Virginia?"  
  
~~end~~

**Author's Note:**

> For those who haven't memorized the show's episodes, "It's about friendship" is a quote from the episode "Flight". Those iconic words have fueled countless stories, of which this is one. ;^)


End file.
